


The Infamous Berserkers [ON HIATUS]

by AYokMizume



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Berserkers, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:56:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25501735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AYokMizume/pseuds/AYokMizume
Summary: Byakuya meets Kenpachi when the Zarakis visit the Kuchiki family home and chaos ensues.In which Kenpachi and Byakuya's fathers are best friends.
Relationships: Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime/Ishida Uryuu, Kuchiki Byakuya/Zaraki Kenpachi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 25





	1. The Arrival of the Zarakis

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I have been reading a whole bunch of GrimmIchi and I want to read more of Byakuya and Kenpachi but there aren't many fics that are giving me what I want. I decided to write it myself. I don't know how good it's going to be but I am going to try my best.

Chapter 1: The Arrival of the Zarakis 

Byakuya woke up and felt the different atmosphere of his house immediately. The air was buzzing with excitement, a testament to his father’s frenzied preparations for the arrival of his beloved comrade. A man he hadn’t seen for the last fifteen years. 

Over the years Byakuya had heard a lot of stories about his father’s comrade. He had listened as his father had, with bright nostalgic eyes, talked about a man with an intense personality who seemed to set alight everything he put his eyes on. Byakuya was looking forward to meeting the man that his father himself seemed to respect when his father himself was a well-respected man with admirable attributes. 

Byakuya walked through the hallways of the manor. It was simplistic, with the outer walls surrounded with an open air veranda on all three floors and the center of the house had another square veranda that was open to the elements. The amount of open air in the house encouraged a meditative and calm atmosphere and most people who visited the house were amazed by the difference the sense of openness made to their sensibilities. The weather of the day wasn’t too bad. It was sunny and windy, a combination that Byakuya didn’t entirely enjoy, but was quite amicable to. 

The Zaraki family were to arrive within five hours and Byakuya was in charge of looking over many preparations beforehand. He had to make sure that the maids had cleaned the guest rooms and had re-arranged them according to what Byakuya’s father had stated. Apparently, Kuchiki Soujun was certain that his friends' preferences remained the same fifteen years later. Byakuya wasn’t too sure about that but he didn’t care to argue with his father. Byakuya also had to check upon the food, the cleanliness of the house, and to make sure that when the guests came in they would feel suitably welcome. Truly, Byakuya didn’t have much to do. All the people working in the Kuchiki manor were competent and deserved their wages, but Byakuya diligently made sure to check everything because that was his job. 

The maids, butlers, and footmen of the house were practically jumping with anticipation at the arrival of the Kuchiki lord’s seemingly mythical friend. 

\----

Kenpachi groaned in disgust at the scenery. It had taken him and his father two weeks of travelling by a combination of different means to get close to the Kuchiki’s resident home. For the past 3 days they had been riding a carriage and Kenpachi was filled to the brim with unvented energy. His skin was crawling with energy. He glanced at his father once more who was reading, with intense interest, a book. Sighing, he casually opened the door of the carriage and jumped out of the moving vehicle. His father didn’t comment on it. 

Kenpachi felt freer now that he was running alongside the carriage than sitting inside it. The carriage driver was openly gaping at him but Kenpachi didn’t bother with an explanation. He pushed his feet to go faster and faster, and enjoyed the feeling of the wind whipping past his face. He grinned. 

He had, for the past three days, done a variety of things to pass the time in the carriage. He had climbed to the top of the carriage to enjoy the ride, he had wrested the reins from the driver and had led the horses haphazardly across the street, had needled his father to battle with him on the streets, and had tried to hang on to the underside of the carriage by brute strength for as long as possible. All of it to pass the time. Kenpachi was nigh sick of this journey they were making to the Kuchikis. He wanted to battle somebody and from the stories his father had told him, the Kuchikis were a soft noble family, he wouldn’t see any battles there. Kenpachi wondered why it was necessary for his father to have him dragged there. 

The Zaraki family of the Eastern Islands were known for their exceptionally bloodthirsty nature and their pursuit of a good battle. The Eastern Islands were a place of constant battles and life-threatening duels and so the residents usually circulated as the weak children of the strong people moved out of the islands to be replaced by strong people coming in from other lands but the Zaraki’s had been there for a few hundred years. Their family was well known for their demonic kids that turned out to all somehow be natural phenomenons of destruction. They were well known. 

“Kenny!” 

Zaraki looked behind him to find Yachiru, a pink-haired little girl that had taken a liking to him and had followed him around ever since he found her abandoned outside his house. Her bright smile that constantly looked as if somebody was about to fall for a mischievous trick of hers was as usual stuck on her face. Zaraki couldn’t say he was too impressed to find her running after him with terrible tenacity.

“What are you doing, Yachiru? Aren’t you going to sit around in the carriage?” Zaraki asked while he watched as she swiftly gained on him and then started climbing up his coat to hang upon his shoulders. 

“Yachiru ran out of all the sweets Katashi brought me. Yachiru was bored. Yachiru thought it would be more fun to hang around Kenny.” 

Kenpachi kept running, as he had a lot of pointless energy to burn until they reached the Kuchiki estate. 

As Zaraki Katashi stepped down from the carriage, Kuchiki Soujun and another man, probably his son, stepped out of the gates of the estate and walked forward to welcome them. The lord of the Kuchiki estate had a wide smile on his face and he was walking fast towards them. Both men were elegant with deep black hair and sharp features. They looked… pretty? Kenpachi’s father had told him that Soujun was pretty but Kenpachi hadn’t realized how true that statement was. He had thought his father simply meant it sarcastically because compared to the Zaraki’s rough looks, most men were “pretty”. 

“Soujun!” His father growled loudly beside me. 

“Zaraki!” The Kuchiki lord’s voice was surprisingly deep and velvety. When Soujun Kuchiki reached they hugged each other and as they walked inside the gate of the estate, Kenpachi’s father slung his arm around the Kuchiki lord’s shoulders and walked excitedly. Soujun somehow managed to remain elegant and stiff in his walking manner. 

Kenpachi was left with Kuchiki lord’s son beside him. 

“I am Kuchiki Byakuya. Hello.” 

“What do you do with such a ginormous estate? You guys sure have money to throw around.” Kenpachi replied, looking intensely at the long walk to the manor. 

“Yachiru likes the big house!” 

The Kuchiki estate was, to put it simply, utterly pompous. The main house was a serious building in the colors of black, white, and brown. It was a three-storey house with wooden-slatted balconies on every floor that fully went around the building surrounded by pretty and well-kept gardens. There were smaller buildings located around the main building for various reasons, Kenpachi couldn’t begin to hazard a guess as to why one family would need so many damn mini-houses. It wasn’t like they were housing a farm that needed a lot of workers. 

There was a beat of silence. “ I was asking for your name, Zaraki Kenpachi.” And then to the little girl he said, “I am glad you like the estate.”

“Do you fight, pretty boy?” 

There was a beat of silence. “Not without reason. Follow me.” Byakuya started walking toward the estate. 

“Is Kenny going to fight Byakkun? Byakkun if you fight with Kenny, Kenny will be very happy.” Yachiru asked excitedly. 

“I ain’t going to enjoy fighting a pretty boy like him.” 

Byakuya didn’t respond. Kenpachi guessed that he was an elegant nobleman who couldn’t fight worth a damn. _What a disappointment._

Kenpachi flexed his fingers by his side and walked towards the house. The soonest chance he got, he was going to drag his father out for a fight. His body was buzzing. He hadn’t gotten a good fight for over a month now. 

\----- 

Byakuya was disappointed. But he supposed that was only his fault since he had made the Kenpachi family out to be much more than it was. Both the men that had come into their estate looked like brutes. The elder Kenpachi seemed to be almost seven feet while Kenpachi looked to be a few feet shorter than that. They both towered over everybody around them. The elder Kenpachi had a terribly puckered scar at the corner of his lips that twisted his lips when he smiled and numerous fainter scars on his face and most likely on his body, he also had a missing ring and pinky finger on his right hand. The youngest Kenpachi had a scar that ran through his left eye and spiky yet silky disheveled hair that fell down to his shoulders while the elder Kenpachi kept his hair in a buzzcut. They both had rough features, the elder Kenpachi had a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken a few times. 

Byakuya was truly confused about Yachiru as well. Zaraki-san had told them that the pink-haired girl was an orphan that had taken to Kenpachi and who the Zaraki family had formally adopted as a daughter. 

He wondered how his father had become friends with such a man. 

Byakuya had led Kenpachi in, wondering how long he would have to suffer the man’s presence. He had tried to make proper conversation but the man had simply mocked him. That wouldn’t do at all. 

When they had made it to the banquet hall his father had so painstakingly set up for the Zarakis, they heard laughter. 

“You know the daughter of the farmer you liked? She got hitched to some hot-shot crime-lord. If those were her tastes she would definitely not have suited you.” 

“She politely told me so when I asked for her hand in marriage” 

There was a whole lot of raucous laughter, and Byakuya lips firmed while his brain twanged in surprise. As much as he disliked the way his father was talking, he also sounded much more relaxed while talking to the man.

“That’s what you get if you want a girl from the Eastern Islands. I told you you would fail. You tried your best to woo her with your lovely manly manners. I bet she did more than just politely decline.” 

There was a slight silence, and Byakuya knew that his father was going to say something potentially embarrassing to his best friend he hadn’t seen in the last fifteen years.

Byakuya opened the door and joined the men. The table was set up with a variety of well-selected food. Fresh meat and vegetables cooked delectably by their cook. The best sake. And for the desert, they had prepared some refreshing variety. 

Folding his legs up neatly as he sat on the cushion laid out for him on the table beside Kenpachi’s cushion. He winced when Kenpachi violently sat down on the cushion with his knee resting on one of his upturned knees. The Kenpachi’s, because of their height, took up a lot of space at the table. 

Byakuya thought through the dinner as he stretched out to sleep on his bed. The room was in utter darkness, just the way he liked it. He could hear little creaking sounds as the house set its old bones for yet another day. He wanted to know how his father had become friends with that Zaraki. His father always seemed to avoid or vaguely explain the topic whenever Byakuya asked and Byakuya understood that some things weren’t meant to be shared. But the personality disparity between the two and the intimacy they shared was making Byakuya doubly curious. Though Byakuya hadn’t expected the Zarakis to be refined and elegant noble men, he hadn’t expected them to be rowdy rough brutes either. 


	2. Chapter 2: Some Happenstances

Chapter 2: Some Happenstances 

“Captain Kuchiki! I was looking over the soldiers, and I have prepared a team that we can send out today for a reconnaissance mission.” 

Abarai Renji, his lieutenant, spoke beside Byakuya as he went about inspecting the soldiers in their daily practice around the barracks. 

“How many people do you plan to send?” 

“A team of five. A healer, two specialized in long-range attacks, and two-specialized in close-range attacks. And all of them are used to performing with the stealth required.” Renji reported back. 

Byakuya looked at the people practicing in the courtyard, their swords swishing through the air in repeated arcs meant to build discipline and strength. Meant for the men to get used to the idea of a sword in their hands. He rested his hand on his own sword, an object that was as good as a part of his own body. 

“Renji. Send them out.” 

“Yes, Captain Kuchiki!”

Byakuya was inspecting the soldiers, correcting postures and evaluating progress when he heard a loud crash somewhere to his right. Byakuya left the soldier he was talking to and rushed to the noise. 

“Harder! Harder! Harder!” 

“Shut up, you moron! If you paid attention to my strikes instead of screaming for more, I would try harder. Dumbass.” 

It was Kenpachi and Zaraki-san, fighting just around the corner from the men who were practicing with their swords. Byakuya stared in astonishment. Zaraki-san fought with a longsword against Kenpachi’s katana. Kenpachi fought recklessly. Wide swings, narrow misses, and wounds that he willingly received in order to pierce Zaraki-san’s guard. They both had a feral grin on their faces as they fought, their swords a blur as they refused to let up the string of attacks. Compared to Zaraki-san, Kenpachi had many more inconsequential scratches on his body that were dripping blood in the grass. So many that they would start becoming consequential soon. As Byakuya observed the fight, he realized that if Kenpachi wanted to -he seemed to be quite skilled- he could have avoided all the scratches he had. But Kenpachi wouldn’t be able to land even a single hit on Zaraki-san if he avoided or deflected all the attacks Zaraki-san inflicted on him. 

“Are you holding back Kateshi? Come at me with all you have got!” Kenpachi roared as he was thrown back from the force of Zaraki-san’s sword.

“You fucking moron! As much as you like the idea of getting killed, I don’t want to kill you yet. You are nowhere near strong enough for me to put in that much effort.”

There was a moment of silence as the both men disengaged and then a loud clang as their swords met with a shower of sparks. Kenpachi’s hair writhed around him as he constantly changed the direction of his movements. 

“Look Byakkun! Kenny’s having fun! What do you think? Do you want to fight Kenny now?” 

Byakuya looked to find Yachiru looking cheerful as ever after she had robbed the kitchen blind of sweets. “No. I will not fight him. What are you doing out here, Yachiru-chan?” 

Yachiru pouted at him. “I was watching Kenny having fun. You really won’t fight him? Kenny likes fighting with Kateshi but Kateshi always holds back.” 

Byakuya wondered if they all just called Zaraki-san by his first name like that. “I do not fight people who do not know the meaning of a fight. Please be careful not to get hurt, Yachiru-chan. I will be heading back in. Let Zaraki-san know that any property destroyed due to their duel should be compensated for.”

“But your father said that Zaraki-san could havoc as much destruction as he wanted.” 

Byakuya stumbled but quickly righted himself.  _ What sort of relationship made it okay for a man to destroy the property of the Kuchiki household?  _ Not bothering to reply to Yachiru, he headed back in. 

\--------

“How much are you going to pay me?” 

“Half a pouch with silver coins.” 

“Yeah… you will have to double that.” 

“And why is that?” 

“If you want to hire a bounty hunter of my caliber, you better pay up or you don’t get shit,” the blue-haired man crossed his leg on the sofa, his arms spread-winged upon the back of the sofa.

Grimmjow was trying to milk the man for as much money as he could possibly get. Half a pouch of silver coins was not bad, but he was talking of a contract with a rich man, it would be criminal to accept such a basic sum. Secondly, the rich man was asking him to make a hit on a man who had tried to assassinate the rich man. Grimmjow already disliked the rich man, so he needed more money than that if he had to go and kill the man, instead of asking him to try again. Third, Grimmjow was  _ good.  _ And why would Grimmjow bother to be good and built up a reputation if not to earn more money? 

“No go. You either take what I am offering, or I hire somebody else.”

“Do whatever the hell you want.” Grimmjow rose languidly from the sofa and walked towards the door. 

Grimmjow wasn’t going to ask for a contract. There were plenty of more people with bounties that he could pursue. He wasn’t about to bargain with a pansy-ass rich man.

“Wait!” Grimmjow grinned. “How much are you asking?” 

“Make it a full gold pouch and it’s a deal.” 

There was a hesitant silence. A gold pouch was a lot. Common bounty hunting fees for a decent obscure hit with a 70% guarantee of a successful hit amounted to only sixty silver pieces. Half a pouch was 250 silver pieces.

“Okay. As soon as you bring me his head, the money will be yours.” 

“I want half in advance.” Grimmjow saw the violent twitch on the man’s lips.

“You are asking too much.” 

“No I am not. Nobody else is going to do this for you. Not when the Head House themselves hired the assassin to get a hit on you.”

The man’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected Grimmjow to know that. Grimmjow only grinned. 

Grimmjow hummed to himself as he weighed the money in his hands. A good plunder. Now to get the man that was the reason for his fortune. 

Grimmjow breathed in the night air and looked at the full moon.“Kurosaki Ichigo… What a stupid name.” 

\----------

Coming from the Eastern Islands, where strength was the only rule of law, Kenpachi was feeling stifled as he walked through the streets of Kifuku. He was amazed how irregularly ordered everything seemed to be.

In the crowded marketplace when waiting on a vendor to distribute wares, people didn’t cut in line. When walking in a crowded footpath, people on the right walked forward and the people on the left walked the other way. Kenpachi had gotten some ugly looks when he had barged in without care for the unquestioned order of the streets. Hell, there weren’t even enough people in the Eastern Islands to merit that kind of organizational system. The streets never got crowded enough. And for some reason, everybody was shorter than him. It was as if all the people in the Northern territory were somehow mystically created shorter. Generally speaking, the Zarakis were genetically considered abnormally tall but in the Eastern Islands there were plenty of people that came close to his height. Here in Kifuku, there seemed to be nobody who approached his height. 

Kenpachi felt a little like he was walking in a crowd of little toys. Everybody seemed to be following the rule of “politeness” so when he impatiently elbowed one or two, careful to be gentle because these were small weak people, they gave him ugly looks and then quickly avoided him when they found themselves looking at his chest instead. This is why Kenpachi didn’t like little weak people. 

People seemed to be staring at him. Giving him side glances, trying not to be obvious. He saw a man staring at his chest and then slowly scanning his body, looking surprised and uneasy. Kenpachi wondered why he was being stared at in that way. Experimentally, he touched his own collarbone that was showing through shihakusho and realized that one of the shallower wounds that Kateshi had left on him was trickling blood. Kenpachi had put some bandages on the deeper ones before going out but hadn’t bothered with shallow cuts that would close up soon anyway.

_ Damn, must have not cleaned up well.  _ He wiped at the blood hurriedly with his hand and then passed his hand through his clothing. The man finally realized that Kenpachi had seen him staring and hurriedly ducked away. 

Kenpachi had been forced to come to the marketplace to buy sweets for Yachiru so she stopped raiding the Kuchiki kitchen. Kenpachi was sure that Yachiru didn’t have the capacity to eat so many sweets. He was convinced that she was bribing the kids living nearby and collecting information on their families. Kateshi had dragged him aside and told him to get sweets because as stiff as the Kuchikis looked, they liked their sweets (in moderation of course) and it wouldn't do to make their hosts unhappy. Kenpachi wanted to tell Kateshi that if he brought more sweets, Yachiru would take those and still raid the kitchen. But there really was no use talking to Kateshi when he was being stubborn. 

Kenpachi sighed and decided that while he was out he might as well try all the food that seemed to be on display at every other stall. The scents wafting through the air were damned enticing and he’d just come from a sparring session with his father. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to make the next chapter longer and introduce more of the plot and some more worldbuilding. Also, I am incredibly sorry for the last chapter. I re-read it and realized that there were a bunch of grammar mistakes. T_T 
> 
> Criticisms are welcome, I would love to know if I am doing something wrong.


	3. An Assassination Plot

“Have you told Byakuya about it?” Kateshi asked Soujun.

“Not yet.” 

“Are you an idiot?” Byakuya and Kenpachi needed to get used to the idea of working alongside each other sooner rather than later. 

“You haven’t told anything to Kenpachi either. Not sure if that's a responsible move.” 

“Kenpachi won’t make a big deal out of it like Byakuya would.” 

“And what do you know about Byakuya? Kenpachi doesn’t seem like he would go along with the plan” 

“Kenpachi will go along with it as long as he gets the motivating kick from me!” Kateshi triumphantly pointed his thumb at himself. “And also I don’t have to know shit about Byakuya. Anybody who can see his face can tell he’s all stitched up in ten different directions with metal rods rammed through each of his limbs.” 

“...That’s an extremely creative way of saying he’s uptight.” 

“Soujun. I am disappointed. What did you do to that kid to make him grow up like that?” Kateshi pointed at the door in agitation. “All you nobles really like forcing your kids to be sewn up sods.” 

“Wait till you see the Shihoin and Shiba clans.” Soujun murmured. 

“Who was that?” 

“Not your business, Kateshi.”

“Well anyway. When are you going to tell him?” 

“Soon. The investigation has already begun.”

“Brace yourself, Kuchiki.” 

“You too. Zaraki.” 

Briefly, Kateshi wondered what they were bracing themselves for. The kids? The plan? The chaos thereafter? All the questionable people involved in the plan? Were they bracing themselves against  _ themselves _ ?

\---- 

Kenpachi was consuming a rice ball and just taking a sip of sweet tea when Kateshi told him about it. The half-chewed up rice mixed up with sweet tea unceremoniously went up towards his nose and then got stuck somewhere in the middle. It was only when Kenpachi had performed a strange mixture of snorting, grunting, and coughing that he could finally feel like he could carry out a conversation. Even though his eyes still felt teary and his nose felt like it had gotten a violently thorough nose-picking. 

“What did you say?!” Kenpachi asked loudly, coughing again as he felt the rice in his throat. 

“We are going to remain here for a while yet. And I brought you along so you could guard the Kuchiki kid.” Kateshi replied calmly. 

“Weren’t you here to visit your friend and didn’t you bring me along because you were too afraid to visit Kifuku after your banishment all alone??” 

“Yes I am here to visit Soujun, but there’s more to it. And I guessed that while I was at it, I would put my one and only son to good use.”

“And why are you using me to guard that weakling?” 

“I am here to solve a problem. Also it wouldn’t do any good to underestimate the Kuchiki kid. He’s powerful. Perhaps even stronger than you.” 

Kenpachi narrowed his eyes at that. “Why do I need to guard the man if that’s the case? You know that if a man wanted to guard their rich kid I would be the wrong person to ask?” 

“Precisely because Byakuya doesn’t need a guard is why you are going to be his guard. Byakuya doesn’t need a bodyguard, but we need a bodyguard assigned to Byakuya.” 

“Kateshi, you are talking like all the rich morons here. Get to the damned point.” 

“We are going to assassinate the leader of Seireitei and bring down the head house.” 

“What the hell? If you want to kill, just declare a damned war. Why all this assassination bullshit? Fucking idiotic. Kateshi, I didn’t think you would stoop so low.” Kenpachi said derisively, his chin resting on his palm, his elbow on one of his knees. His body that sat upon the tatami mat languished comfortably, giving in to gravity. 

Before Kenpachi could breath there was a longsword at his neck and a wide leering smile from Takeshi. 

“If you want an explanation, son of mine, you better shut up and listen properly, or I will separate that ugly head from it’s shoulders.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Kenpachi hadn’t moved from his earlier position except for a slight tensing of his body and an inadvertent slight rise in his spiritual pressure.

“Yeah!” A bright voice popped out from behind Kenpachi. “Shi would never hurt Kenny! But it’s not nice to threaten Kenny like that.” Yachiru admonished Kateshi, an act in futility she liked engaging in whenever she felt like Kateshi was being ‘mean’ to Kenpachi. 

Kateshi put his longsword back into the scabbard and sat down again. “Yachiru… since when have you been here?” 

“Yachiru heard everything! Yachiru likes Byakkun!” 

“Well Yachiru,” Kateshi patiently started, “you know that you aren’t supposed to mention any of this to anyone, right?” 

“Yachiru knows of murder. Yachiru knows of the need to kill. Yachiru can help,” Yachiru said, in somewhat of a muted but still cheerful tone. She had her hand in a determined fist. 

Kateshi patted Yachiru’s head. “Yes. As long as you stay quiet, you can stick around.” 

Kenpachi really didn’t want to be involved in anything that used the distateful word of  _ assassination. _ That was for cowards. That was for people who didn’t have the guts to be in a real fight. 

“Kenpachi, I can hear what you are thinking, and even if I won’t kill you, I  _ will  _ decapitate you.” 

“So what do I have to do with this…  _ assassination _ ?”

“You just have to tag around behind Byakuya until the assassination is performed, and then you get the honor of being in the battle afterwords.” Takeshi grinned menacingly at him, “You might even die in a battle like you keep trying to do.” 

“So, I have to keep company with that Kuchiki kid the whole time? How long is that?”

“As long as it takes. Some things are still a little bit unclear.” 

“And why do I have to guard him again? Couldn’t you pick any other man with decent fighting skills as a guard?” 

“Well, kid. You got unlucky. You get to be his guard because you are my blood relative.” Kateshi grinned fondly, his canines glinting in the light, “Your goal is to make Byakuya look like he’s weak. Any powerful noble worth their damn shouldn’t need a guard. We need the people in the head house to think that the Kuchiki house is afraid and we need them to take Byakuya lightly. Even better if your rough ass starts unnecessary fights with random zanpakuto users. More fun for you to.” 

“Is the kid really that powerful?” 

“Stop calling him a kid, he’s a few years older than you.” 

There was a surprised silence. 

And then Yachiru chimed in. “Kenny looks ugly! Boo!” 

Kateshi sighed in feigned sadness. “I am sorry Kenpachi. I should have married an overwhelmingly beautiful woman with enduring genes for your sake.” 

“Shut up!” Kenpachi grinned, finally excited at the prospect of being a guard. “How many fights do you want me to pick? Tell me all about the strong ones.” 

“We will talk about that later.” Kateshi ruffled Kenpachi’s hair. 

\----

“Father.” Byakuya entered the room and closed the door behind him, sitting down in front of his father who was sipping tea. “Did you call for me?” 

“Ah, yes. I have something very important to explain. I would like it if you would listen calmly.”

Byakuya solemnly nodded.

“We are going to, alongside the Zarakis and a few other noble clans, bring down the head house. The Head House has always, to some degree, expressed their wishes to somehow eliminate the ‘rascals’ of the Eastern Islands and regain control of the region. They are worried about its lawlessness. However, recently, they seem to be preparing and planning for a mass killing within Eastern Islands and reclaiming it. Since the Zarakis are held in contempt by the Head House, they don’t care much about trying to negotiate with the Zarakis about the further steps on the process of ‘reforming’ the Eastern Islands. They want to re-introduce order to the land, which is all well and fine, but it’s more likely to create more harm than not. I am sure you have guessed all this but this is the first time I am vocalizing this to you. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, Father.” 

“And as you may have guessed, you also have a job in this mission we are overtaking. Your place in this is to show that the Kuchiki clan has weakened.” 

Byakuya shifted imperceptibly. He disliked the idea of openly pretending a weakness existed when it didn’t. Other than that, he had expected something like this when he had seen members of the Zaraki family on their doorstep. The Zaraki family had been banished from ever setting foot in any region of the Sereitei, including the city of Kifuku that was under the jurisdiction of the Kuchiki family, after Zaraki Kateshi had gone on a rampage raiding the rich families to provide for the people of the Eastern Islands. A banishment that had lasted fifteen years. When Byakuya had seen them (not that he knew what the Zarakis looked like, all he knew was of their name), Byakuya had known that something was brewing. Byakuya had long known and agreed with his father’s opinion that the current governing seat of the Sereitei, the Head House, was fundamentally flawed. But Byakuya disliked showing weakness of any kind and Soujun, well-versed in reading Byakuya’s minute expressions and movements, guessed what he was thinking..

“The honor of the Kuchikis will be restored ten-fold when we finally take down the Head House. They have been wrecking too much havoc on the basis of their arbitrary justice. It is the responsibility of the Kuchiki house to eliminate such indelicate rulers.”

Indelicate was a mild way to put it. Yamamoto Genryuusai had criminalized and murdered many people in his pursuit of justice. Had left people bereft of family and created more crime in his attempt to squash it. He had done nothing to relieve the people of the country of their starvation or poverty. 

“What would you have me do?” Byakuya asked.

“Kenpachi will be assigned as your guard, you need to parade him around.” 

“That brute?! Why exactly? I don’t see how that would help the mission at all.” Byakuya was surprised and in his discomposure he had protested more than he had meant to. 

Soujun just smiled. “Yes. Kenpachi. We need people to wonder. ‘Just what misfortune in the Kuchiki household would lead them to hire a rogue from the Eastern Island’s as a guard?’ As you know, hiring mercenary bodyguards reeks of desperation and trouble by anyone who does it. ‘Why would the Kuchiki house hire a random guard when they have many skilled fighters within their household?’ In this way, for the grander mission, the Kuchiki house becomes distraction bait. We create a supposed ‘problem’ within the house, show a weakened front, and the plan sets into place in the background.” 

“And not many people are aware what Kenpachi looks like because the Zarakis have been in banishment for the last fifteen years. But I suppose the older people in the political circles know what Kateshi looks like because he’s pretty infamous.” 

“That’s right. That’s why Kenpachi is going to be travelling out and about with you while Kateshi is going to keep a lower profile. It doesn’t help that the man is the size of a house, but I am sure there are ways we can hide him. The Kuchiki household is discreet and the citizens of Kifuku will know to be discreet if we ask nicely.”

Byakuya thought for a minute. “Have the Zarakis made sure not to be spotted on the way here?” 

“Don’t worry. You can trust Kateshi. He’s more sneakier than he looks.” Soujun smiled once again and Byakuya abruptly realized that his father was having  _ fun _ . 

There was some more silence as he mulled over the situation. “Can’t it be any other man from the Eastern Islands? Kenpachi is incredibly obvious. He isn’t just any other man from the Eastern Islands, he is a Zaraki and resembles Kateshi quite a bit.” 

“All the better, son. All the better. Most people will suspect that Kenpachi is in some way related to Kateshi, which will make them believe that the Kuchiki house is either being threatened or in trouble with the Zarakis, which in turn just strengthens our purpose. All of this will be nicely supported by the fact that Kateshi actually raided the Kuchiki house 15 years ago.” 

“I see. This seems quite complicated.”

“Can I rely on you?”

Byakuya wasn’t entirely sure what he was getting into but he was ready to do what was necessary. Byakuya remembered the thoughtless way the Head House righteously governed the land and it seemed only right to remove the blight from the land. 

“I will perform my duty for the Kuchiki house.” 

\--------

Byakuya eyed Kenpachi, assessing him as they sat down for dinner. Kenpachi stared at him with furious intensity, his eyes roving between sword, face, hands, body, and then all over again. Byakuya guessed Kenpachi had been told that the “Kuchiki kid” was more than a pretty face and Kenpachi couldn’t quite believe it. A phenomenon that Byakuya had experienced multiple times until he had built enough of a reputation to no longer have to prove it to people. People needed to realize that a man didn’t need to look rough to be strong.

Byakuya noticed his father and Zaraki-san exchanging looks as they observed this exchange of eye contact and wondered what conclusion they had made. 

The dinner was excellent fare. The cooks had prepared a hotpot with a variety of vegetables, excellent cuts of meat, and an extremely flavorful broth. Byakuya had mapped the ingredients and decided the order in which they would go in the broth when Kateshi, mid-sentence as he was talking to Soujun, dropped a bundle of things in the hotspot and swished it around within the broth. Byakuya froze and tried to recuperate from the destruction of his plan as Kenpachi went in and helpfully added some meat. 

Before Byakuya could protest, Soujun spoke up, an angry glint in his eye. “My friend, as much as I like you, I really despise your way of consuming hotpot.” 

“What’s the big deal? It all goes in at the end anyway. This is faster and convenient.” 

“There’s a certain delicacy to flavor and taste when ingredients are respected and-” Soujun started to perform a soliloquy as he tried to explain to Kateshi why dumping all ingredients in a hotpot was uncouth. 

Kenpachi was entirely ignoring the conversation and munching on the food.

Byakuya called over the servant who had delivered the hotpot vessel (now trying to inch away stealthily) and asked them to hastily put together another vessel with some broth.

“According to your rich people language, please also deign to respect my  _ fucking  _ preferences.” Saying this in response to Soujun’s elongated soliloquy, Kateshi continued to consume the food.

Soujun took another deep breath and Byakuya prompted the servant to hurry in his mind. “Preferences can be respected, but not all preferences deserve respect. Some are simply wro-”

The door opened and Byakuya saw the servant incoming with the secondary vessel. As the servant made to put down the vessel upon the table, Byakuya calmly said, “Here, we can eat accordingly. Father, let’s enjoy the food.” 

They resumed eating and Byakuya made a decision to buy a compartmentalised hotpot vessel. 

Kateshi took a gulp of the green tea and then looked at Byakuya. “I am guessing that Soujun has told you about the plan.” 

Byakuya nodded.

“And I have told Kenpachi of the basics.”

Soujun thoughtfully chewed a piece of a shiitake mushroom, swallowed, and lowered his chopsticks to the wooden chopstick rest on the table. “We need to discuss the details.” 

\-----

Grimmjow arrived in the town of Kifuku, Kurosaki’s home town, a few days after receiving the job from the rich man and then continued following the spiritual signature that Urahara had given him. 

_ Kurosaki, Kurosaki, Kurosaki…  _ thought Grimmjow as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He briefly wondered if the guy was a madman. What kind of moron made no effort to hide his own reiatsu? Kurosaki’s spiritual trail was all over the roads, easy for even untrained kids with some spiritual affinity to follow. 

He kept following the trail and eventually reached a small cottage in the middle of the woods that was utterly saturated with the traces of Kurosaki’s reiatsu. This cottage was not unusual. Many people in the city of Kifuku built their homes within the forest and it was an unspoken agreement that all the cottages remained a sizable distance from each other to keep the illusion of a solitary cottage in the woods. Kifuku had large tracts of forest land throughout the city, and though many people fancied living in the woods, not many actually did, so the cottage-forest set-up was satisfactory in combination with the rest of the inhabitants of the city. 

Grimmjow could hear laughter from the cottage and some odd screaming. He carefully made his way closer, so he could look through the windows while still remaining carefully behind the foliage of the forest so as not to get caught. 

Kurosaki seemed to live with his family. He had little twin sisters and a father. No mother. It seemed that the family had a habit of taking care of travellers that got lost or injured while going through the forest. They were currently harboring a man who was squealing and squirming as the father treated the wound. It seemed that they healed travellers, guided them through the forest, or fed them. Whatever was necessary.

Grimmjow frowned. This Kurosaki guy didn’t seem the type to be a bounty hunter. He looked like he was living a happy “sweet home” life. But Grimmjow also knew not to judge appearances too soon. He settled down, carefully hiding from view, and focused into scouting this Kurosaki guy. 

Grimmjow didn’t enjoy sitting around looking at his targets living their life, but it was the smart thing to do. As a bounty hunter, he usually followed the targets that appeared on widely circulated wanted posters. This often led him to travel around various cities, towns, and villages as he hunted down his target. But this was an obscure hit, a target that didn’t appear in the wanted posters and was the result of a person personally hiring a bounty hunter or some sort of assassin. When Grimmjow was in pursuit of his normal targets, he would often just jump into the fray and lay waste to his opponent with abandon. 

But Grimmjow was aware of just how much Kisuke Urahara had been willing to pay and Grimmjow wanted to find out why that was the case. 

It was late night. The cottage had quieted down considerably and all the family members looked to be asleep or in the process of doing so. Grimmjow had somehow found a comfortable cradle within some bushes and a tree and was perfectly hidden. The moon was in a perfectly unrealistic shape and Grimmjow was getting drowsy when the cottage door opened; it was Kurosaki. 

The long orange-haired man waved at the door and began walking. Grimmjow waited for a little bit and then quietly disentangled himself from his cradle and followed the man. 

Kurosaki was lean with a relatively tall body. His long orange hair swished down his back in rhythm with his walk. He wore loose trousers that tucked into ankle boots, equally loose tunic that tucked into his trousers, and a scabbard on each side of his body. 

_ Does he start hunting now? _ Grimmjow grinned and followed on. 

They were now some ways from Kurosaki’s cottage and into a stretch of forest that didn’t have any cottages and was patiently waiting to be occupied by people. Kurosaki kept walking languidly until he reached a small clearing that let in the light of the moon. Grimmjow waited. 

“I know you are there!” Kurosaki stated clearly.

Grimmjow tensed but remained waiting, flaring his own spiritual energy lightly. 

“Why have you been keeping an eye on me since this dawn?” 

Kurosaki still hadn’t found where Grimmjow was hiding. Grimmjow increased his spiritual energy output ever so slightly. 

“Come on out already!” 

Kurosaki hadn’t noticed Grimmjow’s spiritual energy. This made Grimmjow realize that Kurosaki was utterly terrible at any kind of spiritual detection and control. Grimmjow was sure that if he completely stopped hiding his reiatsu signature, Kurosaki would surely notice him, but that was for low-level spiritual users. With the amount of reiatsu Grimmjow was leaking, any half-decent spiritual user should be able to detect him.  _ No wonder Kurosaki has his reiatsu spilled over the whole damn town. _ Grimmjow made a decision and languidly strolled out from between the trees to appear behind Kurosaki. 

“Yo. Hello there, Kurosaki.” 

Kurosaki turned around, fast. As he took in Grimmjow’s face, his ferocious expression dropped into surprise. 

“Grimmjow? Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez?” 

“Ya know me, Kurosaki?” 

“Well, you are well known as a bounty hunter.” Kurosaki said slowly. 

Grimmjow grinned widely. “Well then, take a wild guess as to why I am here.” 

It took Kurosaki a moment but soon enough, his slack-jawed face finally sealed itself into a determined glower. 

“Who sent you for me? I definitely don’t have a wanted poster circulating.” Kurosaki asked, his hands resting on his swords. 

“And why would I ever tell you that?”

“I guess you wouldn’t. What next?” 

“What else Kurosaki? I try my best to kill you, that’s all.” 

Grimmjow charged.

\------

Urahara wondered if he’d gone too far by enticing Grimmjow to hunt for Ichigo but he was increasingly curious about the resulting interaction between the two. Urahara had given into the temptation for experimental purposes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am literally posting this at 3 am, having furiously edited through this chapter. This chapter is slightly late because I did my best to sort out the plot and figure out where the many characters of the canon were in this story. It is slightly longer than the previous two with more world-building and plot-building. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also my sister and I both agree that Yamamoto is incredibly frustrating to watch as he's an utterly useless ruler and only worsens situations, so I want to kill him in this fan-fiction. ><
> 
> Please let me know how you feel about the story and where it's going. And also if you find any plot-holes/grammar issues/misspellings, etc.


	4. The Party Invitation

Ichigo desperately dodged each strike that Grimmjow sent his way, his sword cutting the air with its speed. Grimmjow was grinning, his body relaxed and at ease. While Ichigo was tense, taken off guard, and very much annoyed that he had to take part in a fight when he really didn’t care to do so. 

The weather had been good. Ichigo had had dinner with his family over some charming talk and a few attempted punches from his dad. Ichigo had been looking forward to taking a long walk and brooding over the trees in the woods and then going into some of the drinking houses to see if he could find any wanted posters that he could pursue for his next job. 

The muggy summer was finally taking a turn towards fall. It had rained on the previous day so the day had been refreshingly cool. Ichigo had been looking forward to his walk, damnit! Now Grimmjow Jaggerjauqez of all people, had come to hunt him down. As much as Ichigo admired the man, this wasn’t a very pleasant surprise at all. 

Ichigo fixed his stance, resigned to the fact that this fight would have to be taken seriously.

\-------

“Nanao-chan, has Rangiku contacted you for the final preparations?”

Nanao stiffly pushed up her glasses. “She said all the invitation cards would be printed by tomorrow and she will pick them up. She said, quite sternly, that you needed to supply her the money for the postage as she sends them out.” 

“I will leave it to you to calculate the amount required and send it over to Rangiku. Take it from the treasury.”

“Yes, sir!” 

Kyouraku languidly took a sip from his sake cup. The weather was finally cooling down. The wind touched his hair and sent it flowing in the wind. If the weather followed human patterns, it would be heating up.  _ But one of us needs to remain cool, eh?  _ Thinking so, he raised his cup to the sky in acknowledgement. 

\--------

The fight had been going on for too long. Grimmjow was breathing hard and bleeding from multiple cuts and probably bruised in many more places, he had a deep cut on his torso that was likely hindering any further movements, but that bastard was still grinning. Simply raring to go. Ichigo had sprained his foot and was precariously balancing on one leg and his head was bleeding because Grimmjow had unceremoniously smashed it into a tree. The fight needed to end. 

They stared at each other across the distance. Ichigo waited. They kept staring at each other. 

“Okay then!” There was a clap as a cheerful voice announced its presence. “Seems that you have both beaten each other bloody. I would say it’s time to surrender.”

Ichigo looked at the man walking towards him and his ire grew. Green striped hat, green outfit, and geta clogs. He just  _ knew  _ that Urahara had something to do with this. “What the hell did you do Urahara?” 

“Nothing to worry about Kurosaki-kun. Calm down.”

Ichigo took a breath to ask Urahara for an explanation when Grimmjow started cackling. “Nothing to worry about? I have been paid by this rich man to murder you. You should be worrying Kurosaki.” 

Ichigo looked back and forth between Grimmjow and Urahara. Grimmjow was out of his transformed cat-like form and was now leaning on his sword heavily, breathing hard. Urahara had an amused smile on his face. At this moment Ichigo trusted Grimmjow more than Urahara. Except.. Urahara,  _ a rich man? _

“I had faith that you wouldn’t die. I compared your powers and realized that it was most likely that I would find you beat up but both still alive. And Kurosaki-kun, I thought it would be good for you to see your idol. How did you feel?”

Ichigo stopped and felt himself grow flustered. He had been feeling angry, he had been ready to throw his sword at Urahara (he really couldn’t move) but all of it was forgotten as he was filled with annoyance. Ichigo peaked at Grimmjow to see if he had noticed what Urahara had said. 

“You guys were friends? Were you playing a prank on me rich old man? Pay me money, my job here is done.”

“Not so soon, Grimmjow-san. Come with me, you will get a free healing.” 

Ichigo breathed. Grimmjow hadn’t noticed. And then Ichigo realized that wasn’t the real concern. “Wait! Urahara! That’s no justification for trying to kill me!” 

“Why the hell should I come along with you to get healed?”

“You do not have to come with me to get healed but you both will be dead within a few hours if you aren’t given treatment. You shouldn’t even be standing. Tessai, get them and then we will go.” 

Before Ichigo could protest, the big burly man appeared out of nowhere, muscled both Grimmjow and Ichigo up on one of his shoulders and started walking, following Urahara. 

Ichigo wriggled as much as he could in his tired body. “Where did you even come from?” 

“I was following you, in case something went wrong”

“I will kill you both and play with your bloody entrails!” Grimmjow shouted and Ichigo winced at the image. 

Ichigo was already worn out from the battle, being unceremoniously carried on Tessai’s shoulder just made him feel more dizzy and ever so slowly, he felt his consciousness recede.  _ Not a good day. Not a good day at all. _

  
  


\-----

It was the next day and the farce had already commenced. Kenpachi sighed as he made his way towards Byakuya’s rooms. He had been told to follow Byakuya around like a shadow. The servants around him walked stiffly down the hallways, made up in formal attires and proper hair-dos. They seemed professional and dedicated. Probably well-paid too. 

Kenpachi wondered if he would get paid for guarding the Kuchiki kid, even though he was doing it to benefit himself and the Kuchiki kid didn’t need to be guarded, or so Kateshi had been saying. 

Kenpachi knocked on Byakuya’s door, waited for a second, and then impatiently kicked the door open. The room smelt of freshly cut grass, mint, pepper, all swirling around the musty scent of aged paper. There was a small mahogany bed at the corner of the room, under a window, much less ornate than what Kenpachi would have expected of a rich kid. The opposite wall was lined with bookcases with piles of papers, scrolls, and books. The room also held a desk, a mirror, a cabinet, a small bedside table with a lamp and a door to what was presumably a bathroom. The room was surprisingly not as ornate as one would expect from a rich kid, but Kenpachi could see the disgustingly excellent woodwork, the tasteful color choices, the quality of the bedsheets and the window curtains. 

He also saw a startled Byakuya fiddling with his hair. His ink-black hair was devoid of the usual white accessories he usually had on, so it freely flowed around his face. Made him look younger and less uptight. Byakuya looked different. Here was a Byakuya before he stiffened up like a plank and walked around the estate carrying the presumed dignity and honor of his house. Here was a Byakuya who was startled at Kenpachi’s sudden arrival in his sanctum. Kenpachi couldn’t help but grin.

“Kenpachi!” Byakuya said with force. “You do not come into my room without express permission.” 

“I am your guard. I get to come in whenever the hell I want.”

“You do not get to come in whenever you want. I always emerge from my room at the same time everyday, just be at the door at the appointed time.” 

“Well my prince, I don’t want to wait outside your door.” 

“You won’t have to.” His voice sounded colder, his knuckles whiter as he arranged the white pieces upon his head. “As long as you are at the door on time, the door will open the moment your footsteps stop.” 

“Is that so?” Kenpachi asked, flumping down on a chair that couldn’t be realistically flumped upon because it was all wood, his body splayed thoughtlessly. It was a skill Kenpachi had developed over time. Splaying anywhere. Surprisingly enough, once one gets the hang of it, any odd surface can be comfortable.

Byakuya’s face was as serene as ever, but it was clear to Kenpachi that he wasn’t enjoying the interaction.

Kenpachi waited for a few moments. “Are you done arranging those white pieces in your hair?” 

“They are called Kenseikan and they are an important symbol of the Kuchiki house.” 

“Fair enough for you. They seem like white triangular shaped little things to me. Where do I follow you after you are ready, my prince?” 

“I am not a prince. I have to check on the soldiers of the house and then I have to spend some time training. You can train alongside me if you wish.” 

“You agreeing to a fight?” Kenpachi asked, interested. 

Byakuya turned his head and looked at Kenpachi, as if he was thinking over something. His gray eyes bore into Kenpachi and Kenpachi felt the change in Byakuya’s demeanor immediately. And Kenpachi knew that he would say yes, Byakuya was already radiating killing intent.

“Yes, I would like to try to fight you.” 

“Thought you would be too scared.” 

“It’s cowardly to use fear as an insult.” Kenpachi was watching Byakuya as he said this and Kenpachi noticed the incredibly slight, almost non-existent rise of his lips. 

“Hypocrisy ain’t cute.”

Byakuya arranged the haori around his shoulders and walked toward the door. Kenpachi followed.

The servants in the hallways made their respectful nods and cleared out of Byakuya’s way as he made his way to the training hall. Byakuya’s footsteps were measured, his pace was neither fast nor slow, and his head was always held at a dignified angle. Kenpachi poked Byakuya’s side and Byakuya glanced at him.

“You really studied the ‘How to be a noble and look like it’ workbook, didn’t you? Anybody tell you you’re trying too hard?” 

“I do what comes naturally to me. If my natural instinct seems like working too hard, then perhaps you are doing too little.” 

Byakuya then spent some time looking over the soldiers, giving out orders to different men and looking over forms and such. Byakuya’s second-in-command, a man named Renji, seemed to spend more time glaring suspiciously at Kenpachi than listening to Byakuya’s purposeful conversation. 

Kenpachi saw the men that were training at the grounds and was disappointed. Most were too slow, their arms didn’t swing with conviction, their balance was questionable - one good hit and they would be down on their butts-, their swordwork seemed to be too rigid and the men that held it didn’t seem to be comfortable holding their own swords. Kenpachi guessed - at least he hoped - that these men were newly initiated and not the men he would actually see in the frontlines during a battle. 

As they headed towards some unknown area in the Kuchiki estate’s vast land, Byakuya pointed at a large rectangle of hard packed earth, “We can have a fight there.” 

“Why not in the forest?” 

“I’d rather not destroy the well-pruned trees that our gardeners dedicate so much time to.” 

“Fair enough. You won’t get any trees to hide behind.”

“That is no great loss. Use your zanpakuto in this fight.”

“What if you are too weak to handle it?” 

“I will make you use it.” 

“I would like to see you try. My prince.” Kenpachi grinned, walking faster. It seemed that this would be fun. 

\-----

“Rangiku thought it would be a good idea to hold a party.” Toushirou lamented, tapping his fist to his brow in anxious thought. 

Toushirou was in his office, standing in front of his desk and leaning against it. Shuuhei had visited Toushirou to talk over some business and had found Toushirou looking tetchy and stressed. 

“She holds parties all the time.” Shuuhei said. 

“She wants to invite everybody.”

“Everybody? She usually invites everybody, right?” Shuuhei glanced at Toushirou, questioning the unusual amount of stress he was radiating.

“She wants to invite everybody… from everywhere.” 

“Oh. _ Oh. _ ”

Toushirou nodded. Finally getting the reaction that he should have gotten from the beginning. “The nobles from every village, town, and city. Renowned artists. Other well-known people. And all of them are allowed to bring in an extra guest. Chaos. That’s going to be utter chaos.” 

“Well, she would need some kind of support from the Head House for that kind of thing, right? I doubt anybody would think that’s a good idea.” Shuuhei looked hopeful.

“Any sane person would think that’s a terrible idea. But…” Toushirou gritted his teeth, “ _ Shunsui Kyouraku  _ thought it was a perfectly fine idea. That moron!” 

“He  _ would _ think that would be a good idea.” Shuuhei nodded as if it made perfect sense.“So when is the party?”

“Three weeks from now. And she told me just today. She has been concocting this with Kyouraku behind my back!” 

“She knows you would have tried everything you could do to stop her.”

“Paperwork! I am going to make her do so much paperwork!” 

Shuuhei laughed uneasily.

The Head House was, as the name implied, the Head House. This house ruled the country of Seireitei and resided in the capital of the country, Sosen Toshi. Each town or city had its own ruling house that took care of various matters and needs of the land allotted to them. The Zaraki family was in charge of the Eastern Islands. They oversaw the safety and immediate removal of unfit citizens and took care to keep the violence and crime of the bloodthirsty residents controlled. The Kuchiki family was in charge of the city of Kifuku, one of the bigger towns with many skilled artisans. The Kuchiki family often offered their patronage to woodworkers, tailors, potters, etc. Toushirou was in charge of the trade city of Saku-Tomi and usually took care of the mercantile issues and pricing of different commodities. As such, he dealt with the most paperwork amongst all the ruling houses (except the Head House) which had led to his second-in-command, Rangiku Matsumoto, to avoid it like the plague. Most unhelpful to Toushirou who spent much of his time cornering Rangiku to complete her duties.

Shuuhei had come to Toushirou to inquire about robberies that some merchants had reported to the justice force that was led by Tosen. A problem that Toushirou was glad to hand over to the enforcers of the justice force, it was one thing of his back at least. 

\------

Their swords clashed against each other again, again, and again. They pulled back, taking a brief reprieve from their speedy exchange. Byakuya readjusted his grip on the sword as Kenpachi charged again and blocked the swing. Byakuya’s feet dug into the ground as he battled with the force of the swing. 

Byakuya recognized that they were both trying to force the other to reveal their own weapon. He gritted his teeth and pushed back Kenpachi’s weapon. Kenpachi was grinning wildly and the scar that bisected his eye stretched alongside it. Byakuya hadn’t really seen anyone who was capable of grinning so widely. Kenpachi’s canines looked particularly sharp and Byakuya idly wondered if a person’s personality affected the way a canine tooth grew. 

Kenpachi swung again and again and again, his blows wide and unrestrained. Laughing. Byakuya jumped back from the blows. Because Kenpachi was taller than himself, his reach was much longer, which created a problem for him. 

They paused yet again and Kenpachi made eye contact with him. There weren’t many people that Byakuya could have a serious sparring session with. Most of his soldiers were weaker, his father tended to be too busy, Renji was underdeveloped and it would take some time before he could give Byakuya any sort of workout. 

Byakuya felt a heavy weight settle on him as Kenpachi raised his spiritual pressure. He thought that maybe this was a battle that may truly test his skills.

He raised his sword. “Scatter, Senbonzakura.” He directed the petals of his blade to surround Kenpachi. 

“Your Zanpakuto is as disgustingly elegant as you are! Ha!”

Kenpachi didn’t bother dodging the petals, rather the spiritual energy that covered his body was so strong as to make his petals ineffective. Byakuya strengthened the force of the petals and surrounded Kenpachi’s body in a hurricane of petals. Kenpachi’s spiritually charged sword cut through the petals and Kenpachi jumped towards him. Byakuya raised a shield of petals and blocked the attacks and re-maneuvered the petals to attack Kenpachi from all directions. 

  
  


Byakuya was gasping. The longer the fight had continued the more they had both become involved in the fight. Kenpachi, who constantly held back during a fight to keep the battle going for longer, stopped holding back as much. Byakuya had to put more energy behind his blows and had started using his hands to direct the petals of his zanpakuto. At some point during the fight, they had attracted an audience, presumably the soldiers that were under training had heard all the commotion and had come over to look. Their eyes sparkled with eagerness as they watched the fight. They were aware that their Captain was powerful, but it wasn’t often that they saw that power in action. 

Byakuya had lost his haori during the fight and fabric from his right leg, which was incidentally, also covered with a nasty gash. The gash was throbbing with heat and pulsing pain. Not a deadly wound, but a distracting one. 

Kenpachi wasn’t much better. He was entirely shirtless, revealing his many other scars. A cut above his eye leaked blood, coating his lashes and flowing down like tears where it entered his grinning mouth and coated his teeth red. Byakuya wished that he had the decency to shut his mouth instead of licking his mouth like a savage. One of Kenpachi’s arms was no longer responding due to a deep cut on his biceps. 

Other than the wounds, they were both worn out. They had been fighting for quite a long time. 

Byakuya eyed Kenpachi. A part of him wanted to keep going until it was only one of them standing, but they seemed to be equally matched. Byakuya could choose to use his bankai, but that was unprecedented effort for a sparring match and would create a scene in front of the soldiers.  _ But I really want to beat that grin out of him.  _

Just as Byakuya was about to step forward, the sound of a singular person clapping rang out from the crowd. It turned out to be his father, walking towards them with a smile on his face. 

“That seems like a good sparring match. I see you are getting along well. But it wouldn’t be nice for you two to get too beat up, you still have things to do.” 

_ Well. That is the decision then.  _ Byakuya straightened and sheathed his sword and walked out of the rectangular sparring space. Kenpachi followed, sheathing his own sword. 

“That was satisfying! Fight me again as soon as you are healed.” Kenpachi said, his voice rough, saliva mixed with blood dribbled down the side of his mouth. Byakuya turned away from Kenpachi with an internal sigh.  _ A brute.  _

“I am not your sparring partner.” Though it would be beneficial to train alongside Kenpachi. If a warrior stands unchallenged for too long, he’s bound to get weaker. 

“None of the soldiers you were training seemed to be good enough to be going head to head against you.”

“They are only the new initiates.” But Kenpachi  _ was  _ right. 

His father walked up to them. “Speaking of, having you two fight might actually be good for the morale of the soldiers. Look at them, they seem much more excited to get back into training.” Byakuya and Kenpachi simultaneously turned their heads to see the Kuchiki house soldiers looking upon them with stars in their eyes, their bodies newly energised. A few fists were pumped into the air as they turned and walked back to the training grounds. Byakuya was surprised at the effect the sparring match had on his soldiers. He supposed it showed them the skills they could achieve if they trained effectively. Another benefit of sparring with Kenpachi. 

His father continued talking. “We have a chance to show off Kenpachi.” He held up a letter. “We have an invitation to a party. Rangiku Matsumoto, under the supervision of Shunsui Kyouraku, is going to hold a party for all the leading officials and other important people in the Seireitei at the entertainment capital of Ranbu. Hosted at Ichimaru’s mansion. ”

Byakuya nodded. “I will guard the town while you are out.” 

Father shook his head. “You will be going to the party, I will be staying behind. You will be taking Kenpachi with you of course. This is the perfect chance for you to spread the Kuchiki clan’s disgrace.” 

Again Byakuya wondered if he should be concerned about how delighted his father seemed to be about spoiling the title of the Kuchikis. Byakuya glanced at Kenpachi. It would be so much more convenient if Kenpachi had a tendency to remain silent. His presence would be much more bearable. “When is this gathering?” 

“You should start heading out a week from now. It will take a few days for you to reach Ranbu. Well then, you should both head in and get medical help. That arm wound looks particularly nasty, Kenpachi-kun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write. T_T I don't even know if it's any good. I have read it over so many times that I am bored of it.


End file.
